Armor For Sleep is a band that wasn't joking when they selected the title: "What To Do When You Are Dead". This album creates a weird feel that it exactly is coming from heaven/hell depending on the song, but instead of being a weird experimental album it is straight up rock or pop punk depending on who you ask. But the album itself is a remarkable improvement over "Dream To Make Believe" an album that was mediocre at best.
The album is a concept album, but it is a weird one. Not by sound but by the fact that none of the songs flow like a concept album track by track, in all of the songs he is dead looking back on his life and his lover. The opener to the album "Car Underwater" and the second track "The Truth About Heaven" are the two best songs on the album. "Car Underwater" starts out with some weird noises in the background which generates into a consistent electric beat with soft vocals that create the dark feel that is always present on this album, but right before you think this a simple intro the lead vocalist jumps out in sings, "I'm In A Car Underwater With Time To Kill", in one of the most addicting choruses you will hear in a while. The song really sets the tone of the album nicely and is overall a great song. "The Truth About Heaven", is one of only a few songs on the album that steers away from the dark feeling but the lyrical content still gives it a gloomy feeling. The opening track leads into the electric guitar on this one and it develops into a nice chorus, but the real standout is the breakdown that was so good it had to be repeated at the end of the album. As the instruments slow down the beat by the drums is toned down a little bit the vocalist sings: "Don't Believe That The Weather Is Perfect On The Day That You Die". The first two songs start off the album perfectly.
The other songs on the album are great for the most part and catchy like the first two songs but this album is really hard to listen to as 11 songs since all of the songs for the most part have the same guitar work and beat, and give you the same dark feel. But the few songs that don't do this are absolutely great. "Remember To Feel Real", is one of the darkest heavy hitting songs on the album, but unlike the first two tracks it keeps it hard feel throughout and really doesn't have a point were you are seeing the awkward kind of happy feeling on the first two tracks and I think this is what the band was trying to do throughout the album. "Stay On The Ground", is a very repetitive song in the surrounding lines but this just creates a great atmosphere that leads into an explosive chorus. The electric guitar in the background and the drums playing hard taking a forefront really creates a nice feel to this song and even though this is another generic soft-loud song it separates itself from the other soft-loud songs on the album. "The More You Talk The Less I Hear", is probably one of the most paranoid, crazy, and intense experimental, concept-album like songs and even though most people that are fans of this band absolutely hate this song I like it because it shows that this band can be successful at trying something new if they wanted to. The raindrops in the background along with a car crash set up one of the most epic breakdowns of the album were the singer screams: "WHAT DID I SAY? / WHY DO YOU GIVE A ***?" These are the kind of songs the album needs to be more of a success than it already is.
Armor For Sleep create one of the most surprising and brilliant rock/pop-punk albums of 2005 with every song a very catchy and good song overall. But the album wears thin to quickly and for an album I believe to be a concept album it doesn’t' t have a variety of songs to make it a classic album. But when this album does have a very album, it flirts with being one of the best pop-punk releases you will listen to in a while.
Download These:
Car Underwater
The Truth About Heaven
Remember To Feel Real
Stay On The Ground
The More You Talk The Less I Hear
Basement Ghost Singing
Walking At Night, Alone
4.2/5
